


Two wrongs, no right.

by DeadlyWeiss



Category: Original Work
Genre: Chocolate Box Exchange, F/M, M/M, Superheroes, Supervillains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-26 10:23:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17744135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyWeiss/pseuds/DeadlyWeiss
Summary: A supervillain and a supervillainess attempt to woo the same superhero, but they're so invested in sabotaging each other that they fail to realize that something else might be the problem.





	Two wrongs, no right.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pt_tucker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pt_tucker/gifts).



The little café wasn't exactly the most romantic location in the city, but it was comfortable enough and the food was decent for its price. More importantly still, it was the kind of place where two people could go out and have a relatively private conversation without being completely alone.

"It's cheating, Auriga."

At the use of his supervillain name, Auriga put down his phone and looked up.

Songbird was on a league of her own when it came to disguises, the imposing woman in a sleek dress standing in front of him looked nothing like the burglar that ran across rooftops at night, stealing jewels and fancy trinkets while wearing night vision googles. In fact, he would go as far as to say that it would have been almost impossible for him to know it was her if he hadn't installed facial recognition technology in his contacts months ago.

"Hardly, my friend. That's the point of secret identities, they're _secret_." He shrugged. "I didn't know it was him when I asked him out."

Of course he had known. He knew everything about Brightstar, from how he had been born to a long tradition of intergalactic conquerors and warmongers, how he had ended up on Earth by accident but had fallen in love with the planet, how he worked as a teacher because he wanted to make the world better in every possible way, how he pulled his punches to make sure he never hurt a supervillain more than necessary, he even knew that his favorite animals were cats.

"Then you won't mind if I sit, right? I'm starving."

Songbird didn't wait for an answer, she immediately pulled back one of the chairs and sat down next to him.

Any other lesser supervillain, he'd have gotten rid of the second he realized that they were both competing for the affection of Brightstar; unfortunately for him, Songbird was neither just a pretty face nor an incompetent thief whose plans only succeeded by pure chance. She was cunning, as athletic as any human could ever hope to be and frankly, an utter thorn on his side in just about every possible way.

Brightstar came back before he could think of a way of getting rid of her, carrying a cup coffee in each hand.

"I'm sorry for taking so long." He put both cups on the side of the table closest to them, smiling at Songbird as he gave her what was obviously meant to be his own coffee. It was such a smooth, charming move that it made Auriga swoon. "And you are....?"

"His girlfriend." 

Auriga saw it coming, but he wasn't quick enough to move his hand away in time. With one swift gesture, Songbird intertwined their fingers together and raised them over the edge of the table for Brightstar to see.

"Oh! You two make a cute couple."

He forced a smile as he saw any and all traces of interest disappear from Brightstar's face, replaced by the sort of lukewarm expression that left very clear that a line had been drawn. 

***

She supposed she had her rival to thank — if that pesky little scientist hadn't been desperate enough to attempt to seduce Brightstar as a civilian, she wouldn't have found out that the superhero liked to spend his weekends in the museum, and she would have chosen another place to rob. Luring out the handsome alien was practically an art, the trick being in doing something big enough that it was worth his time without also attracting more superheroes and half the police force.

There was also the matter of avoiding Auriga, who had put enough tracking devices on her in the past few months that she had actually gone and bought a jammer device so she wouldn't have to worry about getting rid of them every single time.

Songbird smiled as Brightstar landed in front of her. He looked even more striking under the faint moonlight, almost as if he was made of the same exquisite marble as the statues that decorated her apartment.

"Looking for this, big guy?" She took out the stolen ring, rolling it between her thumb and index finger. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."

"Songbird, please. It's a family heirloom, the person who lent it to the museum is very worried about it."

"Why don't you come get it, then?"

Without a moment of hesitation, she threw the ring over the edge, then jumped right after it.

It was barely a second before she found herself in Brightstar's arms, the ring already safe in one of his hands. The superhero was obviously trying to appear annoyed, but since the expression didn't really suit his face, he just ended up looking mildly inconvenienced instead.

"You should stop doing that."

"Why should I? You always catch me."

Brightstar carried her back to the rooftop as if she weighted nothing, putting her down but not actually letting her go. Of course, she knew that he was still holding her because he was well aware of just how many tricks she had under her sleeve and it was harder for her to do anything this way, but that didn't make the closeness any less exciting.

Suddenly, the sound of an alarm going off on the lower levels of the building caught her attention.

Songbird frowned. It was almost unheard of for an alarm with sound to activate so late, after the first couple of minutes or so it only really served to let criminals know how much time had passed between them having broken in and whatever they had taken being discovered as missing.

Unless—of course. 

Just as the fun was finally getting started, the interruption had _Auriga_ written all over it.

"I need to take you in."

"No, you don't. But you can take me _out_ on a date anytime you want."

By then, it was clear that that the sound of the alarm was starting to distract Brightstar, because she didn't have to struggle particularly hard to get out of his grasp. After all, between making sure that the alarm wasn't caused by anything serious and arresting a thief that no longer even had what had been stolen, it was clear what Brightstar would choose every time.

She watched with disappointment as Brightstar didn't even try to get closer a second time, and as soon as he was gone, she disappeared into the night.

***

Brightstar sighed, wiping the dirt and grime from his face with the back of his wrist. 

He knew that the correct thing to do as far as the law was concerned would have been to arrest Auriga and Songbird on the spot for the crimes they still hadn't been prosecuted for, but... well, they were relatively harmless in the grand scheme of things, and they _had_ just helped him and Cinder stop a deranged megalomaniac that would have threatened the entire West Coast if his plans had succeeded.

Besides, they had gotten away on their own plenty of times, he figured it wouldn't hurt if they were _let_ go just this once.

"What you did today was commendable." Cinder looked like he wanted to say something, but luckily he respected his opinion enough to remain quiet. "It would be wrong to arrest you right now."

Auriga touched him first, wrapping his fingers around his bicep as much as their length allowed him to — which wasn't much, but it was enough for him to squeeze down with a gentle familiarness. But instead of moving it right away, Auriga left his hand there as their eyes met.

"Careful, Brightstar. They might confuse your consideration with weakness."

"Don't discourage him, Auriga, good men are a dying kind." Songbird had approached from the opposite direction, and was even closer than Auriga when she leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on his cheek before wiping the resulting lipstick stain with her thumb. "You missed a spot."

Both supervillains exchanged a quick glance before stepping back, no longer touching him but still standing in what he'd consider his personal space. Just when it looked like Auriga was about to turn around and head a different way, Songbird pulled him closer and wrapped an arm around his waist, and they started walking together instead.

He made an effort not to intrude in their conversation, but he kept an eye on them until they were far enough for him to be sure that they wouldn't choose that precise moment to cause trouble.

"Those two, huh? How do you do it, 'Star?"

"Do what?"

"Have every woman and man at your feet. Reporters I get, the people you save, of course... but Auriga and Songbird?" Cinder chuckled and started elbowing him. "Even supervillains are losing their heads over you."

"Oh, no, that's just how they are. They are very, uh, lively."

"Say whatever you want, but they have never made bedroom eyes at _me_."

"Bedroom eyes?"

"You know?" Cinder tilted his head and closed his eyes halfway, blinking slowly while staring right at him. Immediately, his teammate's expression reminded him of the many times either Auriga or Songbird had looked at him in a way that he hadn't been quite able to decipher and that he had dismissed as part of their quirkiness as supervillains. "It's a thing humans do when they want to get in your pants. Come on, people look at you like that all the time."

Brightstar couldn't blush in the same way as humans did, but he could experience embarrassment more than well enough to feel it creeping up his body.

It seemed like he had a lot of thinking to do.


End file.
